Ember McLain, Ghost Hunter
by MrRedSnake
Summary: Ember McLain is a young aspiring musician in the 1980s, unfortunately, she needs some way to make money until her career takes off, so she becomes a freelance ghost hunter to pay the bills. In this line of work, she meets a mischevious young ghost named Danny Phantom who proves to be more trouble than he's worth. But what could she say, Ember's always had a thing for trouble.
1. The Phantom and the Rocker

The year is 1981, Ember McLain is an average young lady in her early twenties with dreams of fame and wealth, but until then she needed a way to pay the bills. So she went into business as a freelance ghost hunter, the best in town... well, the best most people in town can afford that is.

But she wasn't complaining, it kept her fed and she was only doing it until she could get a record deal, not to mention, if it wasn't for this job she probably would've never met the most interesting guy she'd ever known.

Tonight she got a call about a ghost haunting a local hotel. The manager was frantic as he described it, "He was dressed in all black, he had white hair, and-"

"Glowing green eyes?" she asked, having a feeling she knew who it was, "I'll be right over." she assured before hanging up the phone, "That freaking dipstick."

The young lady entered her car and turned on the radio, blasting her favorite rock station as she made her way to the hotel. Upon arrival, she collected her bag of equipment from the truck and entered the building, the hotel manager was there to greet her a soon as she walked in, "Thank goodness you showed up, I was starting to worry you wouldn't come."

Ember rolled her eyes, "Where is he?" she asked simply, wanting to get this over as quickly as possible.

"Room 237" the man answered, confirming her hunch about this ghost's identity

"Of course he is" she mumbled as she walked toward the elevator, she could tell this was going to be a long night.

She arrived at the room to find an envelope in front of the door, it said 'For Ember -Love, your babypop', she sighed as she read it, opening it to find the room key stuffed inside "At least I won't have to pick the lock" she said to herself as she unlocked the door.

Upon opening it, she found the room to be dimly lit by candle with a trail of rose petals leading to the bed, upon which laid the ghost-boy she was here for, "Good evening beautiful" he said with a grin.

The ghost hunter rolled her eyes at the boy, "The room number was 217 in the book, not 237." she pointed out

"I know that. I also know it bugs the hell out of you that they changed it in the movie" he said with a smirk

Ember shook her head in annoyance, "What are you doing here, Danny?"

The boy gave her a fake look of hurt, "What can't I come visit my girlfriend every once in a while?" he asked as he floated toward her

"Babypop, you can visit me whenever you want, but you never do, instead you choose to haunt some random place around town and scare the hell out of everyone until I show up!" she explained irritably

Danny kissed her on the cheek, "Well yeah, that's half the fun. And now that you're here, what do you say we put this room to some good use?" he offered with a sly grin

Ember rolled her eyes but smiled anyway, "I've gotta say, that is a tempting offer, but I'm here for a job, now do you want to come quietly or am I gonna have to use the trap?"

Danny thought about his options for a moment "Hmm, well I certainly wouldn't want to be crammed into the _amazing technology_ of Ramis/Aykroyd Labs again. However, you know better than anyone that coming quietly was never really my specialty." the ghost-boy said as he pulled his girlfriend into a long kiss which she was glad to return.

The rocker chick sighed when they finally separated, "God I missed that."

"I bet you're happy I showed up now."

"I'm always happy when you show up, I just wish you'd show up at my place when you do."

The boy chuckled lightly, "Maybe I'll try it sometime, but for now, would you settle for driving me there yourself?"

"You could just fly there." she pointed out

Danny shook his head "Yeah, but then I wouldn't get to look at you."

Well that tears it, she needed to get this charming bastard to her apartment as fast as possible so she could rip his clothes off, "Turn invisible and follow me." she ordered simply

The two made their way downstairs where the manager sat behind the front desk, "Did you get it?" he asked

"All taken care of" Ember assured, "Now, about my pay…"

"Right, of course." the man pulled out his checkbook and grabbed a pen, "Now, your ad said that you charge five-hundred, correct?" the ghost hunter nodded in confirmation, "Right then I-" the man cut off mid-sentence as his eyes began glowing green and a ghostly aura surrounded him, "Actually, you did such a good job I think you deserve a little extra, how's a thousand sound?"

The girl smiled, fully aware of what was going on, "I wouldn't turn down a thousand."

"Of course not, I'll write up the check right now" he said before his eyes went back to their normal color, "Sorry, I blacked out for a second, what were we talking about?"

"You were just about to write my check for a thousand dollars" Ember said with a smirk

"Right." he said, somewhat confused as to why he would offer so much.

The ghost hunter collected her pay and walked back to her car, her invisible boyfriend following close behind, she couldn't see him but she knew he was there, she could always feel his presence. Ember sat down in the driver's seat of her car, "You couldn't go any higher?" she asked

Danny turned visible and grinned at her, "Sorry, had to keep it believable."

The girl shrugged in response, "Eh, I'll take what I can get."

"Well, you've got me, now what are you gonna do with me?" the ghost-boy asked with a smirk

She smirked in return as she turned on the car's engine, "Oh you'll see, babypop. Let's go make this a night to remember." she then pulled out of the hotel parking lot and sped off to her apartment.

 **A/N: So I had an idea for an AU where Ember's a human ghost hunter and Danny's a ghost, also I set it in the 80s because who doesn't love the 80s?**

 **I think I'm gonna dub this universe World 3, with World 2 being my "Other Side of the Portal" AU, and World 1 being the actual show.**

 **I was inspired by the fact that pretty much nobody has made any new Danny/Ember stories lately,** **maybe more people should but that's just my opinion. U** **ntil then I guess I can help keep the ship afloat with my ongoing series "Other Side of the Portal" as well as one-shots like this** **.**

 **So tell me what you think, did you enjoy this little** **short** **? Did you hate it with a passion? Do you want to see more stories set in this universe? Let me know with a review and be sure to follow in case I do make more.**


	2. Origins

"Thanks for meeting up with me, Kitty" Ember said as she stirred her coffee, the two were at a cafe in downtown Amity, the ghost hunter was in a pissy mood and she really needed to talk to someone about it

"No problem Em, that's what best friends are for!" the girl said with a smile, "Now, what's up?"

The rocker chick sighed in aggravation as she thought back to the events that had just transpired, "Danny and I got into a fight" she answered simply

Kitty thought for a moment "Danny?… Oh yeah! Your mysterious boyfriend that you won't introduce anyone to" she recalled, "Well, what happened?"

Now there's the tough part, how does one explain that their boyfriend's favorite hobby is going around town scaring people, without revealing that she's dating a ghost… or a Scooby Doo villain? "He's just been a real pain in the ass lately, I'm starting to think he's more trouble than he's worth" she explained.

"I thought you liked trouble." the other girl said with a grin

"Yeah, sometimes. But it's all the time with him these days, and yesterday he took it way too far." Ember said, recalling how Danny accidentally knocked down a billboard and nearly crushed a group of people, he caught it in time and the people got away but it was still way too close, she sighed "It's not that he's a bad guy, he's just reckless."

Kitty nodded as she listened to her friend's problem, "I get what you mean, Johnny can be the same way a lot of the time."

'Johnny drives his motorcycle too fast and ignores red lights, Danny can shoot lasers out of his hands and destroy entire buildings' Ember thought to herself, but she couldn't tell Kitty that, "I guess" she said simply

"You know, you've never really told me about this guy before" Kitty pointed out, "How'd you even meet anyway?" she asked

Ember laughed as she thought back to her first encounter with the ghost-boy, "God, he was a pain in my ass back then too"

 **Oh wowee, a flashback**

It was about six months ago, Ember had just dropped out of college so she could focus on her music career, she wasn't learning anything there and it all felt like a huge waste of time. She had taken a job at the local record shop, it would've been great if her boss wasn't a complete asshole, that gig lasted about a week before she read something in the paper about a group of scientists making great discoveries in paranormal research, and they were looking for help. "Prior experience not required" was the phrase that caught her attention, so she called them up and scheduled an interview.

The man interviewing her was a goofy looking fellow and something about him looked… familiar, "So, Miss McLain" the man addressed, "When did you first become interested in ghosts?", a moment passed but all the girl could do was stare, "Miss McLain?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Murray, but… aren't you the guy from Caddyshack?" she asked

"I'm not legally required to answer that question. And please, call me Bill." he said, "Now, let's get back to you."

"Right, sorry. Uh, when did I get interested in ghosts?" Ember repeated, 'when I found out I could get paid to hunt them' she thought but didn't dare say, "Well, I've always been a pretty big horror fan, hunting ghosts just seemed logical." she lied, in reality, Ember didn't actually believe in ghosts, she just needed some way to pay the bills.

Bill jotted something down on his clipboard, "Alright, have you ever had any kind of paranormal experience before?"

Ember shook her head, "No, never"

The man jotted something down on the paper once again, "Okay, are you willing to put yourself in mortal danger for the sake of paranormal research?"

Now the girl was skeptical, "I… might be. How much does this job pay again?"

Bill laughed, "Well, it's not really so much a job, it's more like a partnership, we give you the equipment, you hunt the ghosts, then you mail a report about it back to our main base in New York. What you charge for your service is up to you" he explained

"So… I'll be my own boss? I won't have some self-righteous asshole yelling at me all the time?" she asked

"Yep, pretty much."

Ember smiled at this, "Wow, this already beats the hell out of my last job"

"So you'll do it? Please say yes, you're the only one that showed up for the interview."

She nodded "Sure thing Bill Murray, it sounds like a pretty sweet deal"

"Great! Welcome to Ramis/Aykroyd Industries. We'll just get you set up with your gear and you'll be good to go."

 **Oh wowee, a scene transition**

And so started Ember's career as a freelance ghost hunter. She sprung for an ad in the paper and within a week she got her first call, interestingly enough it was at Amity Park Community College, the same college she'd just dropped out of, "So, what happened?" she asked the two men in front of her.

"It was all this idiot's fault!" the skinnier one shouted as he gestured to the large man next to him, "I told him it wouldn't work but he wouldn't listen, then he went and shot poor Maddie in the face with ectoplasm!"

Ember nodded as she wrote down her notes "Woman shot with ghost jizz" she mumbled as she jotted it down, "Got it, and you are?"

"Vlad Masters" he introduced

"Jack Fenton" the other one said, his head hung in shame

The girl nodded again as she continued writing "Alright, I'll just do a quick scan of the room and send the info back to the lab"

Vlad sighed in relief, "Thank goodness I thought to call in a trained professional. Tell me Miss, what tends to happen to people in this situation"

Ember shrugged "I dunno, I just started this week." she said idly as she started scanning the room

The man looked at her blankly, "But, surely you've had years of training in the field of ghost research, right?"

Ember laughed "You kidding? I just showed up for an interview, Bill Murray gave me a bag of techno junk and boom, now I do this for a living." she explained

Jack looked up in confusion, "Wait, Bill Murray? The guy from Meatballs?"

The girl nodded, "Yep, I guess he hunts ghosts now"

Vlad was furious "I can't believe this, so you have no idea what you're doing?!"

"I know exactly what I'm doing" she snapped, it was a lie but she wasn't just gonna let some nerd mouth off to her, "So just sit down, shut up, and get my money ready, because this scan could be the thing that saves your girlfriend's life"

"She's not my-"

"Yeah, whatever, I seriously don't care."

And that was Ember's big ghost hunting debut, she made five-hundred dollars, not much especially considering she had to deal with that Vlad guy to get it, what an asshole.

 **Oh wowee, a scene transition**

Ember's second call came later that week, some bar in town called her to report that they were being haunted by a ghost, 'Maybe I'll finally get to see some action' she thought as she sped down to the scene of the crime. "So, what happened exactly?" she asked the owner

"Well, we caught him stealing quarters from the Pac-Man machine, just so he could put them back in and play for free"

Ember laughed lightly "I used to do that all the time with pinball machines" she reminisced as she filled out her report

"Did you do it by phasing your hand right through the machine?" the man asked

"No, I had to pick the lock, but that sounds way easier" she said, "Anyway, what happened next?"

"Well, one of the waitresses called him out on it, then he shot a green laser out of his finger and blasted an empty beer bottle off the bar. Scared everyone right out of the building."

She nodded as she finished her report "Alright, got it. I'll go take care of it." she assured before entering the bar.

She walked in to find the building empty, the only other inhabitant being a tall slim guy with white hair dressed in a black trenchcoat standing at the Pac-Man machine, drinking a beer as he played. "I already told you, I'm not leaving until I run out of quarters" he stated without turning around

"Well that's a shame because I don't get paid until you're gone" Ember said, gaining the ghost-boy's attention, "And I'm not leaving until I get paid"

The ghost's eyes widened as he gazed upon the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, "Well then, feel free to stay for as long as you'd like, Miss…"

"Ember"

The boy grinned in response, "Ember, that's a pretty hot name."

She grinned in return "That's the idea. And you are?"

"Phantom" he answered, "Danny Phantom. Can I buy you a drink?"

The ghost hunter considered his offer before shrugging, "Sure, why not."

Danny floated off the ground and behind the bar, grabbing two beers from under the counter and opening them, "So you're a ghost hunter?"

She sat down at the bar and took a sip from her drink, "For the time being" she answered simply, "And you're a ghost?"

He grinned at her "Last time I checked."

"I've gotta say, you're not really what I pictured." the girl admitted

"What were you expecting, a floating bed sheet with eyes?"

"Not exactly." she lied, that was exactly what she was expecting

"So how's this work, _are you gonna capture me and banish me back to the Ghost Zone_?" he asked sarcastically

"Ghost Zone?"

Danny gave her a confused look, "Well, yeah. You know, the place where ghosts come from? Aren't you some kind of ghost expert?"

Ember chuckled, "Nope, just a musician with a part-time job, babypop."

"Oh, so I'm your babypop now?" He asked as he leaned in closer

"That's right, now close your eyes, babypop." she requested, and the ghost-boy was happy to comply.

 **CLUNK**

Danny's eyes shot open and looked down to see a small metal box on the bar, he then looked up to see Ember smirking as she pressed the button to activate it, the box then proceeded to open, sucking the ghost inside, "Oh shiii-"

Ember's smirk widened as she looked down at her newly captured target "What a shame, I was just starting to have fun too". The ghost hunter exited the building with the trap in one hand and her beer in the other and approached the bar owner, "All taken care of" she said before sipping her drink.

"Thank you so much ma'am, and don't worry about the beer, it's the least I can do" he said

"Yeah, but what's the most you can do?" she asked with a smirk

The man pulled out his checkbook and a pen, "Right, your ad said five-hundred dollars, right?"

Ember shook her head, "Actually, this one was pretty rowdy, I might have to bump it up to seven-fifty" she said

"What?! No way! Your ad said five-hundred, that's the deal!"

"Well, I just changed the deal, and now I'm changing it again, eight-hundred bucks"

"Hell no!"

Ember held up the trap to address it "Aw, did you hear that Spooky? Looks like he wants you to stay after all."

"Alright, fine! I'll give you the eight-hundred bucks, minus the price of the beer, just get that thing away from my bar!"

"Deal" the rocker said with a grin. Ember collected her pay and drove back to her apartment, upon arrival she laid the trap on the kitchen table and sat down to finish up her report, "Let's see, ghost's behavior… flirty. Special traits… really pretty eyes. Capture status?" she looked over at the trap next to her and thought for a moment, was she really going to send this guy back to the lab so they could do god only knows what to him? "Escaped" she wrote before pressing the release button.

Danny flew out of the trap and onto the floor, he got up and turned to face his captor "You really think my eyes are pretty?"

Ember nodded, "Yeah, they're pretty nice"

"Yours ain't so bad either." the ghost-boy said with a grin, "So, why'd you decide to let me go?"

"Don't worry about it, just be glad I did." she answered, "I don't know what they do to ghosts at that lab but I'm just gonna assume you don't want to find out."

"So what, you're just gonna set me free? _I am a scary ghost after all._ " he said sarcastically

The rocker chick laughed, "Yeah, you're free to go. Just keep out of trouble, unless you want to see me again."

Danny smirked at the girl, "I might just hold you to that, see ya around beautiful." he said as he turned invisible and flew out of the apartment.

Ember didn't know exactly why she let him go that night, she just did, and it would soon teach her the lesson that no good deed goes unpunished, as her next two calls both reported a white-haired ghost dressed in black causing trouble around town.

 **Oh wowee, a scene transition**

It wasn't until Ember's fifth call that she really got to see some real action, it all started when some terrified security guard called her up at around midnight, "What?!" she answered harshly, irritated over having been woken up.

"Are you the ghost hunting lady from the paper?" the man asked

"From the hours of 11AM to 8PM, call back then." she answered, fully intent on hanging up the phone

"No, please, you've gotta help, there's someone out here roaming the zoo and mumbling something about hunting the animals!" he explained

" _Oh, wow, well here's an idea,_ CALL THE POLICE, DIPSHIT!" she shouted, presumably waking her building's other occupants.

"You don't understand, this… thing, he ain't human. He's got flaming hair and metal skin, I think he might be an alien."

'Flaming hair? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!' Ember thought to herself, "Well sorry to break it to you, but I hunt ghosts, not Martians. Goodnight."

"WAIT! I'll pay triple your advertised price" the man said, finally catching her attention.

"Triple?"

"Fine quadruple. Hell, I can just write my name on a check and you can put whatever number you want on it, just come down here and help me!" the man begged

Little did he realize that Ember was already out of bed and getting dressed, turns out everyone's got a price that will get them out of bed at 12:45AM, and Ember's just happened to be two-thousand dollars.

The woman sped through town as fast as she could, luckily there's very little traffic in Amity at one in the morning so it didn't take her long to reach her destination. Once she arrived at the zoo, Ember got out of the car and walked to her trunk to get her equipment, only to be stopped by the ghost-boy sitting on the vehicle "Isn't it a bit late for a leisurely high-speed drive?" he asked with a smirk

"What do you want, Danny?" she asked simply

The boy smiled at her, "Maybe I just want you." he answered flirtatiously

She rolled her eyes, "Well, you're just gonna have to wait, I've got a major payday coming and I plan to collect. Now please, get the hell off my trunk so I can get my stuff."

Danny shrugged, "As you wish." he said before floating off the vehicle. Ember popped the trunk and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she did, "Mind if I join you?" the boy requested.

"Just stay out of my way." she answered irritably

"Wow, somebody's grouchy."

"Maybe I wouldn't be if I wasn't so tired from chasing you all day."

The boy scoffed "Don't lie, you know we had fun."

The ghost hunter decided not to respond to that because, in all honesty, it was true. "If you're gonna follow me like a shadow, at least keep an eye out for my target" she requested

"No problem, what's he look like?" Danny asked

"The guy on the phone said he was metal and had flaming hair.", Danny's eyes widened in surprise before he grabbed Ember by the shoulders and turned her to face him, "Ah! What the hell, dipstick?!"

"Ember, please tell me you're joking" he said in the most serious tone of voice she'd ever heard from the ghost-boy, it was actually pretty off-putting for the rocker girl

"Uh, no. That's exactly how the guy described-" she was cut off mid-sentence by Danny pulling her back toward the car "Woah, hey!"

"We need to leave, right now!" he said simply

"Let go of me! What's your problem?!"

Danny looked her straight in the eye as he explained, "You just described a very dangerous ghost named Skulker, trust me when I say you do not want to be on this guy's radar!"

"Actually, you've both been on my radar since you first showed up." A menacing deep voice said from behind them, they both turned around to see the ghost in question staring them down, "And the whelp is right, you are both in serious trouble"

Skulker pulled out a rocket launcher and aimed it at Ember, firing it only for the shot to be stopped by Danny materializing a shield of energy in front of her, "RUN!" he commanded before turning back to Skulker with furious intent.

" _Oh look, the whelp wants to challenge me._ " the ghost mocked before grinning maniacally, "Good, the prey here was just starting to bore me."

"I'll try my best to hold your interest while I'm beating your shiny metal ass into the ground" Danny said before he began his onslaught on the other ghost.

Ember, meanwhile, did not take Danny's advice and get the hell out of there, instead opting to take cover and go through her bag, "Come on, where is it?! I know they said something about- ah, found it!". Danny and Skulker continued brawling as Ember emerged from the shadows, brandishing what looked like a small gun, "Hey, tin-man!" she shouted, gaining Skulker's attention, "Smile you son of a-"

 **BLAST**

A green laser beam shot out of the pistol, hitting Skulker in the shoulder and damaging his suit, "OW! YOU DIRTY LITTLE-" he shot a beam of his own at the ghost hunter, knocking her flat on her back where she laid motionless.

"EMBER!" Danny shouted in fear before turning back toward Skulker. The ghost-boy saw red as he sped into the mechanical ghost and started beating the non-living hell out of him, ripping out circuits and even slamming his head straight into the concrete, shattering it on impact and releasing a little green blob from within.

"STAY BACK! I'M WARNING YOU!" the tiny ghost shouted in a squeaky high-pitched tone

"This is the Ghost Zone's greatest hunter? I could squish you like a bug", the boy gave a thoughtful expression "In fact, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

"WAIT! You could destroy me, but don't you think you should go check on your girlfriend instead?"

The rest of the world might as well have disappeared as soon as Danny looked over to where Ember's body laid motionless on the ground, the ghost-boy immediately rushed over to her side, giving Skulker a chance to escape. "Don't be dead, don't be dead, please don't be dead." he repeated to himself like a mantra as he flew over to her, tears ran down his eyes as he looked at her "Please don't be-" the boy laid his head on her chest and listened for a heartbeat… he sighed in relief as he heard it, "Oh thank god!" he said as he started to relax

"Ugh, Danny? What happened?" the girl asked as she came to. She was woken up completely when she felt the boy's lips connect with hers in a kiss.

Danny pulled back after a moment once he'd actually realized what he'd done, "I uh… sorry, I thought you were dead." he said without thinking, bringing a creeped out look to Ember's face

"So… let me get this straight, you thought I was dead, and your first instinct was to start frenching my corpse?"

"Uh… let me explain that a little better."

"Explain it when you're done, jackass." she said as she pulled the boy in for another kiss.

The two probably would've taken it all the way right then and there had the zoo security guard not interrupted them.

Once Ember collected her pay, she and Danny loaded up what was left of Skulker's suit into the back of her car, "I can't wait to hear what the boys in New York think of this" Ember said as she loaded the last of the ghost tech into the trunk.

"Yeah, I'd say this is pretty good for your first week on the job." Danny pointed out

"Maybe. But it doesn't change the fact that I've never actually caught a ghost."

"Hey that's not true, you've caught three ghosts since we first met"

She rolled her eyes, "No babypop, I've caught one ghost… three times… all of them you!"

The boy shrugged "I mean, sure, if you want to get technical about it."

Ember closed the trunk and opened her car door, "Come on"

Danny gave her a curious look "Where to?"

"My place, duh. We've still gotta finish what we started in there" she answered with a smirk, "And after that, I'm going back to sleep"

 **Oh wowee, we're back to the present**

"And we've been together ever since" Ember said with a smile as she sipped her coffee, she looked over to her friend to see her with a shocked look on her face, "What? Come on Kitty, I know it's not the greatest love story ever but-" she cut herself off mid-sentence when she realized what she'd just revealed.

"You're dating a ghost?"

 **Oh wowee, a scene transition**

After explaining herself to Kitty and also explaining why dating a ghost doesn't count as necrophilia… probably, Ember made her way back to her apartment. What she wasn't expecting to see when she opened the door was the ghost-boy himself sitting at her kitchen table, "Nice to see you took my advice" she said idly

Danny sighed, "Actually, I came to apologize, you were right I went way over the top yesterday and I should've been more careful."

Ember smiled at her boyfriend, "I forgive you. Can you just promise me you'll be more careful in the future?"

"For you? Anything."

 **A/N: Hey look, I actually got some writing done! Not for the thing I** **should** **be working on, but whatever.** **What can I say,** **this is a pretty fun AU to write for, maybe it's the concept or maybe it's because of the time it's set in, I don't know, I just like it.**

 **Also, quick note, this story takes place in a universe where the cast of Ghostbusters became actual ghost hunters, that's why Ember got her equipment from the great Bill Murray and is partnered with Ramis/Aykroyd Industries.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you thought with a review, and be sure to follow s you don't miss the next update, whenever that may be.**


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